Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing metal chips from the interior of a pipe, in which metal chips, produced when boring a pipe, such as a gas pipe, through which high-pressure gas flows, a hot water pipe for space heating, and a water supply pipe, are deposited, and more particularly to a chip-removing apparatus capable of conveniently and rapidly removing chips from the interior of a pipe by discharging the chips with a portion of the fluid, such as gas, out of the pipe using the difference between the internal pressure in the pipe and external atmospheric pressure.
Description of the Related Art
In general, gas pipes are laid underground in a residential district so that a gas grid supplies municipal gas to buildings and houses. In addition, a variety of pipes, such as hot water pipes for space heating and water supply and sewage pipes, are laid underground in the form of a web. Such pipes include main pipes, which are connected to supply sources such as a gas grid, and branch pipes, which diverge from the main pipes and extend to places such as houses and buildings in which gas and hot water are needed.
When it is intended to connect a branch pipe to a main pipe or to block a pipe that is located upstream of a maintenance area in order to perform maintenance or repair of a pipe, pipe boring is carried out using a machine suitable for the pipe to be bored.
An exemplary apparatus and method of connecting a branch pipe to a main pipe are disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 1993-0011585. According to this prior art, when pipe boring is performed, a portion of the pipe is cut out in a circular shape. At this time, metal chips are produced and are deposited in the pipe.
An exemplary apparatus of temporarily shutting off the supply of fluid to an area in which pipe maintenance, such as replacement, repair and branch pipe connection, is performed is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0157683. According to this prior art, metal chips are also produced when a portion of the pipe is cut out in a circular shape in a pipe-boring process and are deposited in the pipe.
If the metal chips deposited in the pipe are not removed to the outside, there may be a problem in that the metal chips move with fluid such as gas or hot water through the pipe and block a nozzle mounted in a place where the gas or hot water is ultimately used. Therefore, it is preferable to remove the metal chips from the interior of the pipe.
An exemplary apparatus for removing chips from the interior of a pipe is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0153590. According to this prior art, in order to remove chips from the interior of a pipe, a magnet is put into the pipe through a hole bored in the pipe so that the chips adhere to the magnet, and is then pulled out of the pipe.
However, this chip-removing apparatus using a magnet has a shortcoming in that it cannot remove all the chips at one time, and thus the above-described chip-removing process must be repeated four or five times. In most cases, the pipe is a relatively large one having a diameter ranging from one to two meters, and high-pressure fluid flows through the pipe. Therefore, safety measures must be taken before the chip-removing process is performed. In addition, the components of the chip-removing apparatus are typically heavy. Accordingly, it takes a long time to perform each chip-removing process. In other words, the chip-removing apparatus using a magnet is labor-intensive and time-consuming.